China Snaps US for RFA
(UPI | Beijing | January 27, 1994)
Chinese attacks Thursday against three separate US actions demonstrate just how fragile their relationship remains despite recent breakthroughs on the trade front. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wu Jianmin accused the United States of trampling upon diplomatic norms after the US Congress Tuesday approved a bill to send radio broadcasts into China. Wu also blamed an unnamed US company for organising an illegal shipment of Chinese chemicals for possible use in weapons by a Middle East country, and warned Washington not to send Patriot air defense missiles to South Korea.
But Wu's main concern was US plans to begin Radio Free Asia news broadcasts to China, saying "the United States has trampled upon the universally accepted norms governing international relations." "The real motive behind the setting up of this radio program is to interfere in the internal affairs of China and other Asian countries and create confusion through the news media," Wu said at a weekly news briefing. China, which rigidly controls its own media industry, already jams broadcasts of the government-run Voice of America, arguing that ordinary Chinese people are uninterested in such programs, a western diplomat explained.
"The US side should withdraw its plan," Wu stated. Radio Free Asia, with an annual cost of $22 million, would broadcast news, information and US foreign policy statements to Tibet and the communist countries of Asia — China, North Korea, Burma, Laos and Vietnam. Wu also claimed no prior knowledge of a Chinese shipment of chemicals that could possibly be used for weapons to a Saudi Arabian port, and blamed a US company for organizing the shipment.
US officials have reportedly confirmed that it would violate international agreements against exporting ingredients for chemical and biological weapons. The exact contents of the shipment is unknown. But Wu said an initial investigation showed a Chinese company sold an undisclosed amount of the chemicals in response to "repeated demands made by a US company."
"Therefore the question as to where the U.S. company finally sold these goods should be referred to the US side," he said. In less vitriolic language, the spokesman criticized US plans to send Patriot missiles to South Korea, saying China is "not in favor of any actions detrimental to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula."
He also denied rumors that North Korean President Kim Il Sung plans a junket to Beijing.
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